The musings that are too long for Twitter and far too fascinating to keep to myself!
On my soapbox...
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I heard something on the radio this morning that made me cringe, something about “…John McCain’s campaign for President of America…”
President of America???
This is one of those issues that really, really grate my nerves. Why is it that the citizens of the United States feel that ‘America’ is just the name of their country, when in reality it is the name of a whole continent? The worst part is that it’s not just them, but the Brits that follow that convention too and constantly talk about going to ‘America’ for a holiday, when they really mean the USA or even just Florida. WHY?
It is no good trying to narrow it down to North America, because both Canada and Mexico are also part of North America. So I can truthfully say that not only am I Mexican but I am also North American – because I was born in Mexico, which is a part of N. America, and the same goes for Canadians (who probably get even more annoyed at being confused with those from the USA).
I guess the main problem is that the United States of America is technically a country without a name. We can’t call it America because that is the continent and although United States is more accurate, few people know that the correct and full name of Mexico is the United States of Mexico, but granted that is being petty. So I guess we can call it the United States and I'll be happy with that.
What does that make its citizens though? ‘Americans’? Well yes, in the sense that they are citizens of a country in the American continent, but Brazilians, Colombians, Canadians and Argentineans are all also ‘Americans’. The correct name would probably be something like ‘United Statesians’ but they are hardly ever called that (besides being a bit of a tongue twister). I personally like ‘Gringos’ but I am not sure they do… so what do we call them, to distinguish them from all other citizens of the American continent?
“Proud to be American” is a very common phrase. But what does it really mean – proud to have been born in the American continent, as opposed to Europe or Asia? Then a lot of people up and down the continent can say this phrase without being wrong or having ever even set foot in the USA. “God bless America” (besides being a bit of a weird thing to say, for all sorts of other reasons) should not be interpreted as meaning just the USA, really. “My fellow Americans” is a favourite of politicians – are they addressing the whole continent?
Isn’t it weird that one of the most powerful countries in the world doesn’t really have a name for itself or its people?
Here, here! I am from the United States of America and I agree completely. Why couldn't we have a name like everyone else??? And why can't even the BBC get that the hemisphere they refer to as 'The Americas' has many, many unique cultures. Canada is not like the USA and the USA is not like Mexico and Mexico is not a carbon copy of the other countries above it or below it! Well said, Claudia!
I can see what you mean Claudia. I think people who are Welsh and Scottish have a similar problem here as many lump them in with England. However, from the other side I don't like to be called a European and how come on official forms I have to be British. I'm English and proud of it.
Maybe it's that centre of the universe mentality. They are a powerful nation and the rest of us just sit back and watch. Being from Canada, I'm proud to be a Canadian and prefer to be called just that. If someone was going to refer to me as a continental resident, I'd go for North American just to distinguish myself from the common term american and how everyone associates that to exactly what you are talking about!!
It is no secret (perhaps it should be!) that I really like Barry Manilow's music. So I was listening to Copacabana for the millionth time today and I remembered something I've pondered for a long time: why can't anyone figure it out? If you know the story - and you know you do - we have Lola and her boyfriend Tony who both work at the Copacabana. Rico turns up, starts flirting with Lola and the boys fight. Then "there was blood and a single gunshot, but just who shot who?" This is the part I don't get. I mean, it works out as a lovely rhyme but it really shouldn't be that difficult to work out who shot who! There was a single gunshot and we know from the song that Lola "lost her Tony" so surely Rico shot Tony. Another possibility could be that both guys ended up dead, in which case the body that has the GSW was shot by the other one (and in that case, how did the non-shot person die? Punched to death?) For some reason EVERY time I listen to this
There are lots of weird things that appeal to me, but one of them is the idea of planned communities. I think the concept of producing a place to live in a space where none yet exists is quite idealistic. There’s something very satisfying about getting to decide what it looks like, where things are located, how it will flow, what are the underlying design principles, etc. Of course one of my favourite planned spaces is Walt Disney World which famously was built in the middle of nowhere much and everything had to be built. For decades I have researched almost every aspect of its construction and every detail is fascinating. The fact that it is still standing, still functioning and still successful is one of the reasons I admire this place so much. Closer to home, MUCH closer, is another planned community that I love learning about. It is of course Milton Keynes where I live. Here is another planned community that had its genesis in the late 60s with the first spaces built in the 70s an
Inspired by RLSoccerMom over at www.disneyrunning.com forum, I finally got my finger out and took some photos while out for a run... This is my house and where the run started from. It was an unusually sunny Sunday lunchtime and I didn't have plans to run but it was so nice out that I thought - why not? The run took me mainly along the redways which are the pride and joy of Milton Keynes: cycle or walk ways (some are even red!) that criss-cross the entire city. It is possible to get from anywhere to anywhere on these routes and sometimes you don't see any cars! This is the redway that goes along the front of my house and where I started first with a brisk walk to warm up. Not long after I started I got to one of the infamous overpasses in MK. They can be a little scary at night but they keep walkers and cars separate so I don't mind them much. Milton Keynes is pretty flat so this is one of the few 'hills' I have to negotiate on the route. It is hard to tell from t
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